Chapter 1308 Similarities and Differences
Although Qiu Yuan is not an official in charge of immigration affairs, he has access to a higher level of information and is very clear about Haihan's methods of obtaining immigrants in the past few years. When Haihan was founded, he relied on acting as mercenaries to assist the Annan royal family in quelling the chaos, and thus received a large number of Annan immigrants in return. Afterwards, the Denglai Rebellion broke out in the north of the Ming Dynasty, and Haihan also made full use of this opportunity to transport a large number of war refugees back from the local area. These two large-scale immigration operations alone brought tens of thousands of people to Haihan, and the cost was much lower than the daily recruitment of immigrants. As long as there are ships and food, immigrants can continue to be moved in. In Qiu Yuan's opinion, such an immigration plan is naturally the most cost-effective way.
Of course, Qiu Yuan was not from the military, and he did not have a clear idea of how much money it would cost to launch a war or how much time it would take to prepare. He believes that overseas wars can bring a large number of cheap people to Haihan, but whether participating in them is beneficial to Haihan. The decision-makers of the Executive Committee must not only consider population issues, but also must consider the impact on the international community. The impact of relationships. Otherwise, the Leizhou Peninsula, which is only separated from Hainan Island by a strait, would have been taken over by Haihan as his own as Qiu Yuan said.
Qiu Yuan is a relatively pragmatic person. In a brief meeting, he gave a general introduction to Haikou's recent development status, and then invited the inspection team to visit some key local projects. This is basically a routine task for the inspection team whenever they visit, and everyone is accustomed to this arrangement.
Haikou's local basic industry is still dominated by agriculture, with planting and fishery accounting for the majority. Similar to other places in Hainan, Haikou City also has a large number of collective farms and plantations within its jurisdiction. Almost all kinds of cash crops grown on a large scale on Hainan Island can be found here. The abundant water resources in the Nandu River Basin provide excellent natural conditions for farmland irrigation, and the plain area east of the Yangtze River has become one of the main grain-producing areas on Hainan Island.
"Last year, about one-third of the grain stored in our country was produced in Haikou. I believe that this proportion will further increase after thousands of acres of new rice fields are reclaimed this year." Qiu Yuan proudly introduced the local food to the visitors. Food production status: "If you can stay here for a few more days, I am going to take you to the Jiangdong area to see the farms there. As far as you can see, you will see endless farmland. The scene in this season is still very spectacular."
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Yu Xiaobao responded: "I'm afraid the schedule is a bit tight. We stayed in Danzhou for three more days, and the rest of the schedule was affected. If we stay here for too long, we won't be able to get back to Sanya as scheduled. ”
Liu Shang felt relieved when he heard this. He could return to Sanya earlier and his psychological pressure could be slightly relieved. Although the agricultural development in Haikou sounds very impressive, Liu Shang believes that it is just a larger scale of planting and is essentially not much different from the agricultural development model in other places on the island.
Liu Shang has indeed gained a lot of knowledge during this trip. In the past, he only knew how to operate the small farmer economic model. After seeing it in various places in Haihan, he realized the power of this large-scale operation. Its development and operation costs are as high as Far lower than the traditional model, and easier to control farmers as a social group.
Although the top officials of Haihan all talk about "industrialization", in fact this is still a country based on agriculture, but the production efficiency is much higher than that of traditional agricultural countries like Ming Dynasty. The group that constitutes the main force of society still accounts for the majority of the agricultural population. A large part of the civil strife that Ming Dynasty is currently facing is due to the loss of control over the agricultural population, which has led to widespread domestic wars. Haihan has done an excellent job in this regard. Through a series of systems and policies such as land, agricultural development, and national labor classification, he has firmly bound the agricultural population to national interests.
Liu Shang has limited ability to interpret specific policies and does not fully understand some of Haihan's policy intentions. However, after seeing it in various places, he has been able to clearly realize that the daily life of Haihan's grassroots agricultural population is better than that of Ming Dynasty. Farmers are much more stable. Although it is impossible to get rich overnight, it will never lead to loss of livelihood due to reduced food production or social unrest, or even the end of losing one's family or leaving one's hometown.
Compared with the turbulent Ming Dynasty in recent years, the people of Haihan do not need to worry about natural and man-made disasters such as wars, plagues, droughts and floods, and extortionate expropriations. This stable environment is helpless for those refugees who are eager to find a place to stay. Resist the temptation. Among the civilian class, there are very few cases of people moving back to Ming Dynasty after coming to Haihan. Even Liu Shang himself, after enjoying a comfortable and comfortable life and fast and convenient transportation in various parts of Haihan, had to admit that Haihan's social system did have its advantages, and it was difficult to simply imitate it.
Liu Shang didn't understand. Since both countries are agricultural countries, why are the social gaps so big? How come the accumulation of more than 200 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty is not as good as the development results of this island country on the border of the South China Sea in only eight years? Although the Haihan people are indeed smart and capable, he has met a lot of genuine pure-blooded Haihan people these days. They don't seem to be living gods. They eat, drink, have sex and sleep just like ordinary people. Why is this What the foreign barbarians could do, so many high-ranking officials with salaries in the Ming Dynasty could never do well?
Liu Shang had actually noticed the similarities and differences between the two countries in terms of political systems and social systems through observation, but with his political cultivation and academic level, it was impossible to interpret the differences between the two countries from the perspective of production relations. And this is exactly the dilemma that Daming is currently facing - it already knows where the gap between itself and Haihan lies, but it just can't figure out the root cause of these gaps.
Haihan's daily publicity is all about how wise the Executive Committee is, but in Liu Shang's view, the role of the Executive Committee is actually not much different from the operation method of the Ming Dynasty cabinet, that is, there is only one less emperor at the top who makes the final decision. . But why is it that Haihan's effect is so much better than that of Ming Dynasty when governance is implemented through multi-person deliberative bodies? Could it be the problem of the person above who made the decision? Liu Shang didn't dare to think about this rebellious direction. If such words were said in some sensitive environment, it would most likely be a serious crime that would cause his head to fall.
As they spoke, the convoy had arrived at the first visiting location, a collective farm on the banks of the Nandu River south of Haikou City. The main crops grown here are rice. The entire farm has more than 4,000 acres of cultivated land. There are more than 300 farmers affiliated with the farm, and the per capita cultivated land is almost more than ten acres. However, considering that the actual labor force is only slightly more than half of the population, the farming efficiency is not bad.
At present, rice farming in Haikou has two seasons a year. The first season is transplanted around Qingming Festival and harvested in mid-to-late June. The second season is planted in July and harvested around mid-to-late October. At this time, the second season of rice transplanting has long been completed. Everywhere you look is green, which is very eye-catching.
The person responsible for accompanying him was the steward of the local collective farm, an immigrant from Zhejiang, whose surname was Zeng. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties. Qiu Yuan called him "Old Zengtou". Although Lao Zengtou spoke Haihan Mandarin, his accent still had a distinct flavor of Wu Nong's soft dialect. When Yu Xiaobao listened to his introduction about the first rice harvest in the first half of the year, he unexpectedly asked an irrelevant question: "Old Zengtou, how long have you been in Haihan?"
Lao Zengtou responded: "Looking back to the leader, I immigrated from Ningbo Prefecture, Zhejiang Province in the sixth year of Chongzhen...that is, the year before last. I have been in Hainan Island for more than two years now."
In the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633), Haihan sent troops to Zhejiang to attack the Zhoushan Islands in April of that year. After gaining a foothold along the coast of Zhejiang, they began to recruit a large number of immigrants from the local area, most of whom were later transported to Hainan Island for resettlement. In this way, Lao Zengtou can be regarded as an immigrant from Zhejiang who came relatively early. Yu Xiaobao asked again: "How is life here compared to your previous life in Zhejiang?"
Old Zengtou responded: "The villain is stupid, don't blame the leader if he says something wrong. When it comes to food, clothing, and various welfare benefits for the citizens, our country, Haihan, naturally has better conditions. But all this land is owned by the state. , it can only be contracted by private individuals and cannot be bought or sold. Many newcomers still have opinions on this. ”
Yu Xiaobao nodded, changed the topic and asked: "Why did you leave your hometown and come to Haihan all the way?"
Old Zengtou said: "The villain's wife is suffering from a serious disease, and the cost of treatment is very high. The villain's family does not have much money, so he can only mortgage the land under his name and borrow money from the landlord to treat her illness. . Later, my wife was still not cured, and when she left, I lost my money and my land. I didn’t know how to do anything but farm. Without my land, I could only work as a long-term laborer for the landlord. Later, I heard the propaganda about recruiting immigrants to come to Haihan. The villain could give it a try, so he took his two children on the immigration ship. ”
"Then after you came, did you get the house and land?" Yu Xiaobao continued to ask.
Old Zengtou said: "How can the decree of the Executive Committee be false? Of course the villains will get it! But the house and land also belong to the state. The house can be lived in and the land can be planted, but it cannot be bought or sold."
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"These are benefits provided by the state to immigrants. Of course, they cannot be used by private individuals for profit." Yu Xiaobao paused and said, "If land can be bought and sold by private individuals, new landlords will soon appear and land annexations will continue. , new immigrants like you will soon lose the land and property in your name. State ownership of land is a kind of protection and welfare for new immigrants by the state. Otherwise, how could it be possible for every batch of immigrants to arrive in Hainan Island? Can you get the right to cultivate thirty acres of farmland per capita? If you farm for the country, the country will also provide you with living security. Even if your family is in urgent need of money, you can borrow money directly from the bank without any mortgage. The interest rate is also much lower than private borrowing. Once you have saved enough money, you can buy a house in the city, and no one will be responsible for buying or selling the house. If you think about it carefully, this state-owned real estate will be very beneficial to you. Or is it a big disadvantage? ”
Old Zengtou responded quickly: "Of course I understand that the country is for the sake of the people, but no leader can explain it so clearly. If I meet new people who can't figure it out later, I will relay to them what the leader said today." .”
Yu Xiaobao nodded. Old Zeng seemed a bit clumsy and tongue-tied, but he was not stupid at all. He already understood the meaning of his words. The nationalization of land was a special policy during the founding period of Haihan. Haihan must use this to achieve full control of Hainan Island. However, this special policy is not particularly acceptable to new immigrants, so regarding the land system Publicity and explanation has always been a key work content of relevant departments.
The reason why Haihan implemented such a policy is certainly not as simple as Yu Xiaobao said, but for the agricultural population who are not highly educated but highly dependent on land, this explanation is enough. What's more, the thirty acres of land promised to be allocated to the immigrants are usually divided into several farming rotations. Ten acres of land are cultivated every year.
Liu Shang naturally listened to this conversation, but he was not so receptive to Yu Xiaobao's explanation. In his opinion, Haihan's land policy is just to change the name of the ownership rights of the king's subjects in the whole world to the country. This is because there is no royal family in Haihan, so this name is natural. It cannot be attributed to any one person. As for land use rights, Haihan's laws and policies are not as strict as they seem. Otherwise, there would not be so many foreign investors developing and building agricultural projects such as plantations in Haihan. As long as they have capital, private individuals can contract large amounts of land for self-development, but the land ownership still belongs to the state in name only.
I have to say that Liu Shang's views on this issue are quite essential, and he sees it more thoroughly than most new immigrants. Of course, this is also related to the relatively high level of the people and things he has come into contact with during this period. If it had not broadened his horizons and increased his knowledge, then his views on this issue may not be any better than Lao Zengtou. go.
The grain produced by this collective farm is mainly supplied to the local market. The results of the work of more than 400 people are enough to feed nearly ten times the population. Moreover, rice is not the only thing in their farmland. Haihan has long promoted the technology of raising fish in rice fields among the people. The grass carp raised can be eaten by themselves or sold in the market. It is a relatively affordable and simple method for farmers. Easy-to-operate production increase project.
After seeing the farmland, Lao Zengtou took the inspection team to visit the residential area of the farm. All the private houses here were built and distributed uniformly by the government. Although they are all ordinary farmyards, they are free accommodation. Immigrants would not have such good treatment in their original hometowns.
(End of chapter)